Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)
Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) handles Llama 3.2 3B Instruct well at 35 tok/s at Q8_0. A solid choice for this model.
Model Size
3.21B
Device VRAM
18 GB
Bandwidth
150 GB/s
Quantizations Tested
1
Performance by Quantization
Each row shows Llama 3.2 3B Instruct performance at a different quality level on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified).
| Quantization | Speed | TTFT | Fits in VRAM | Rating | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q8_0 | 35 tok/s | 220ms | ✓ Yes | Good | estimated |
Notes
Q8_0
Slower than M4 Pro due to half the bandwidth. Usable for light workloads.
About Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (3.21B) is a chat, coding, ai coding, reasoning model. Ultra-lightweight model that runs on virtually any GPU. Surprisingly capable for its size — good at summarization, simple coding tasks, and quick chat. The default choice when speed matters more than depth.
View all Llama 3.2 3B Instruct hardware options →About Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)
Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) has 18 GB at 150 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 14", MacBook Pro 16".
See all models Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) can run →Source: MLX performance estimates (2026-03-15)
Data last updated: 2026-03-15